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Toward a People-Centered Peace and Development Framework: Some Lessons from Conflict-Affected Communities in Mindanao

The peace and development nexus has often been invoked by government functionaries as a precondition for a stabilizing and rapidly growing economy and overall human development. Almost every government undertaking has reportedly been planned with a peace and development component. Even military campaigns are staged to “promote peace.” In many parts of Mindanao, this reason is invoked by the government when its armed forces conduct search and destroy operations in communities allegedly to “neutralize” so-called criminal or lawless elements or to quell every form of dissent from communities that have suffered long years of government neglect and poor governance from its local officials. But as we are all aware, far from making peace and promoting development, these have instead stoked the fires of discontent and pushed people to do desperate and violent acts. Continued militarization in many rural areas of Mindanao has withered rural economies, created more poor people, and made the poor even poorer.

Conflict-affected communities in Mindanao: An overview

The conflict-affected communities in Mindanao are concentrated in the provinces composing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). These provinces are Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi. In addition to these provinces, the city of Marawi in Lanao del Sur also opted to become a part of the ARNIM in the plebiscite conducted in 2001. The province of Basilan and the city of Marawi are “new” members of the controversial region. The four other provinces were the original component provinces of the ARMM during its creation in 1987.

In this paper, I am describing only two of these component provinces, as they are also the hardest hit by armed conflict from 2000 to 2003. These are Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur.

Maguindanao

Until its creation as a separate province on 23 November 1973, Maguindanao was part of what was once the biggest province in the country, the Empire Province of Cotabato. Presidential Decree No. 341 issued by the late President Ferdinand Marcos created three separate provinces from the Empire Province, namely; Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, and Cotabato. Subsequently, two more provinces were carved out: South Cotabato and Sarangani.

The province is bounded on the north by Lanao del Sur, on the east by Cotabato province, on the south by Sultan Kudarat, and on the west !237 the Moro Gulf. The province is accessible by air through the Awang ‘airport located in the municipality of Datu Odin Sinsuat and by sea through two ports in Parang town.

With a total land area of 547,410 hectares, Maguindanao has a predominantly flat terrain, with undulating hills and mountains. Its climate is highly suited for agriculture, and its main crops are rice, corn, and coconuts.

As of 2000, the province had a total of twenty-two municipalities and more than 600 mainly rural barangays with a total population of 801,102. The number of towns has increased to twenty-five in 2004 with the creation of three new towns: Datu Unsay (near Shariff Aguak and Datu Piang), Datu Saudi Ampatuan (formerly the barangay of Salbu, in Datu Piang) and Guindulungan (some barangays of the municipality of Talayan). Major dialects spoken in the province are Maguindanaon, Cebuano-Visayan, Tagalog, and Teduray. Sixty- eight percent of the population are Muslims, the rest are Christians of different denominations. Communities of indigenous peoples arc found in the mountain towns of North and South Upi as well as in Ampatuan. The capital town of the province used to be Sultan Kudarat during the administration of its former governor. At the time of this writing, the provincial governor is constructing a new provincial capitol in his hometown in Shariff Aguak (formerly named Maganoy).

Maguindanao is one of the twenty provinces included in the country’s “Club 20,” the popular euphemism for the country’s poorest provinces. All of its twenty-five towns are classified rural, with very low revenues. The dominant political families in the province are members of the Maguindanaon royal families which trace their ancestry to the sultans who ruled the once glorious Maguindanao and Buayan sultanates long before the coming of the Spanish and American colonizers. The 2002 Philippine Human Development Report (PHDR) done by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has Maguindanao ranking seventy-fifth among seventy-seven provinces in terms of its Human Development Index (HDI). The HDI is a composite measure that includes, among others, life expectancy, poverty rates, functional literacy rates, per capita income, and enrollment rates in the primary and secondary levels.

Aggravating the already pathetic situation of the province is its being one of the hardest hit by armed encounters from 1997 to 2003 between the forces of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). From January to April of 2000, the Ecumenical Commission for Displaced Families and Communities (ECDFC) Monitor documented a total of 10,398 families that were displaced from the Maguindanao uplands due to heavy fighting between the AFP and the MILF. At an average of six members per family, this number roughly translates to 62,338 individuals. But most Maguindanaon families are extended. They are composed not only of immediate or nuclear family members, but also include relatives from either the husband’s or the wife’s side. This could mean that the average family size is higher, such that up to more than 100,000 people are affected by sporadic, intermittent armed conflict in the province.

In February of 2003, the AFP conducted massive ground and air assault of the so-called Buliok complex in Pagalungan town on the border of Pik it, Cotabato. The complex included the residence of the late chairman of the MILF, Ustadz Salamat Hashim. Once again, thousands of people were displaced. Some estimates of displaced individuals ranged from several hundreds of thousands to a million. What made the 2003 attack condemnable even in the eves of many Christian civil society groups was the timing of the incident. It was conducted while people were busy preparing for a very important feast in Islam—the Eid’l 1-lajj, or the Feast of Sacrifice, or the end of the Holy Month of the Hajj or Pilgrimage.

Many of the displaced families have not gone back to their places of origin. They have become the “new” squatters in relatively safer places within the adjacent municipalities in the neighboring province of Cotabato (like Pikit) and in the City of Cotabato. Some stay with their relatives and friends in these places.

Lanao del Sur

Lanao del Sur is the traditional homeland of the Meranaw ethnolinguistic group. The famous Lake Lanao, which is the main source of Mindanao’s hydroelectric power, nestles at the heart of the province. At only 385,00 hectares, Lanao del Sur is quite small in terms of land area. The seat of local government is the component city of Marawi.

The province is bounded on the north by its sister province, Lanao del Norte; on the east by Misamis Oriental; on the west by IIlana Bay; and on the south by upland towns belonging to either Maguindanao and Cotabato provinces. Generally, the province is mountainous and blessed with even rainfall and mild temperatures all throughout the year. It is naturally gifted with enormous rivers and lakes, the famous Lake Lanao as being the biggest and most scenic.

Among its major crops are rice, corn, and vegetables, especially those that thrive in cool climates. In addition, the province is known to hold vast mineral deposits including basalt, chromite, manganese, copper, pyrite ore, and coal deposits. Its people are skilled in brassware and handloom weaving.

As of 2000, the provincial population was 669,072. There are thirty-seven municipalities in this mostly mountainous province.

Despite the abundance of its natural resources, Lanao del Sur has been consistently among the poorest provinces in Mindanao and in the entire country. Like Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur ranks lowest in its HDI, ranking seventy-three among seventy-seven provinces in the year 2000 (UNDP PHDR 2002).

The increasing numbers of poor people in the province could be attributed to the deteriorating peace and order conditions in the province at the start of 2000, right after the declaration of President. Joseph Ejercito Estrada’s “all-out war” against the MILF. Like Maguindanao, I ,anao del Sur is host to a significant number of major MILF camps. Many of its upland towns are known lairs of-the group, and these were the target of heavy shelling and bombardment by the AFP. Consequently, thousands of families from the mountainous barangays and towns evacuated to “safer” grounds, like the cities of Marawi and Iligan (in Lanao del Norte).

Fighting between the NIILF and AFP was heavy in the towns of But ig, Kapatagan, Nlarogong, Lumbayanague, Tubaran, Kalanogas, and lialabagan (sec Cagoco-Guiam et al 2001). I visited Marawi Cit in late 200-1 and learned that there were ninety-nine families with members ranging from six to nine) still living in makeshift rooms inside the city gymnasium. The evacuees came from various upland Lanao del Sur and del Norte towns. They have repeatedly refused to go back to their places of origin for fear of renewed hostilities.

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As the table shows, the per capita income among families in both provinces arc way below what is considered to be the poverty line. It also shows that the people in the two provinces do not grow old – they die young.

Human security framework to a people-centered development

The Fifth Asian Development Forum (1995,8) provided a definition of development as:

A process by which members of a society increase their personal and institutional capacities to mobilize and manage resources to produce sustainable and justly distributed improvements in the quality of life consistent with their own aspirations.

When the process of development is centered on people rather than on increasing the Gross National Product (GNP) of a country, such development is just, sustainable, inclusive, and authentic.. According to this perspective, a people-centered development process” … envisions a redistribution of political and economic power, restoring environmental stewardship, and reducing wasteful consumption.”

Such a vision of development is empowering, rather than enslaving: It respects a people’s inherent capacities to make their own aspirations.

By necessity, people-centered development also has to maximize people participation at all phases in the development process. Fisher, et al (2001) identify four levels of people participation in development, thus:

• Informing- Development workers, especially government functionaries, simply inform the representatives of the people (like local elected officials) about new legislations, directives, circulars, and similar measures to be followed. There is no participation at all from the general public or from civil society groups.

• Meeting- Development agents and workers meet with various groups of people face to face, and inform them about their decisions directly. But participation is very low because decisions have already been made before the meeting.

•Consulting- Development agents and government functionaries or authorities meet with representatives of the people (both elected government officials and civil society groups) and get their views or feedback about proposed plans or programs.

•Dialoguing- People are directly given the chance to meet with government authorities and functionaries as well as with development agents and workers so they can share their views with the former before any decision could be made. Having constant dialogue with the people promotes high levels of trust thus leading to good governance, and eventually sustainable peace and development.

Respecting a people’s inherent capacities to develop themselves in their own way is central to the concept of human security. According to the United  Nations’ Commission on Human Security (UNCHS 2003), it is the mandate of governments” …to protect the vital core of all human lives in ways that enhance freedoms and human fulfillment. Human security means protecting fundamental freedoms… that are the essence of life… It means creating political, social, environmental, economic, military and cultural systems that together give people the building blocks of survival, livelihood and dignity…” When such systems are in place in a community, citizens live in freedom, peace and safety, and participate fully in the process of governance.

Recognizing that what people consider as “essential” or “vital” in their existence varies across individuals, societies, and cultures, the UNCHS notes that the concept of human security must be dynamic. Thus, while the concept of human security is universal for all peoples, it is nuanced in various ways among highly diverse communities. In other words, there is no monolithic interpretation of what constitutes human security for communities composed of widely divergent cultures and ways of life. What one community might consider the essence of its survival may be considered a peripheral need in another community.

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The above holistic definition presents an ideal situation for all human beings in a highly globalized world. Operationally, however, in the real day-to-day world of ordinary citizens especially those in impoverished, marginalized, and conflict-affected communities in Mindanao that I have just described, the concept of human security becomes an oxymoron: It does not mean anything. The concept is best seen in its glaring absence: Systems for the protection of ordinary citizens from threats of displacement due to armed conflict or natural calamities are simply not in place. Poor people have very limited options. This is an additional source of insecurity for them. Systems and mechanisms that are supposedly for the welfare of the poorest of the poor do not work in their favor. Instead, such systems work for the members of the middle and upper crust of society. But ideally, when the main building blocks of human security (as shown in the diagram in the next page) are provided, the dynamism that results from the interplay of these building blocks will lead to a people-centered sustainable peace and development.

Lessons on peace building in conflict-affected communities

Communities severely affected by long years of exposure to the ravages of armed conflict have expressed in various ways their state of war fatigue. There is now a growing constituency for peace not only among the conflict-affected communities themselves, but also among those villages that have hosted internally displaced persons (I DPs) or those who have fled to escape armed conflict or threats of armed conflict (Castles 2004).

Such constituency includes a variety of civil society organizations (CSOs) and informal groups whose efforts toward peace building are outside of the mainstream peace building activities and programs conducted by government and its functionaries.

In mainstream peace processes, people participation has not been maximized to the level of constant dialogue, as described in the previous section of this paper. The peace process that led to the signing of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement between the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) was, at best, only at the information level for the general public. This explains why, after the signing and the promulgation of an Executive Order from former President Fidel V. Ramos about the creation of a development agency for the MNLF, there was a huge public outcry against it. When government functionaries conducted an information tour about the creation of the Southern Philippines Council for Peace and Development (SPCPD), they were confronted with a largely angry public. Many people, especially among the majority Christian populations in Mindanao, perceived such an agreement to be bending over backwards to accommodate a troublesome group like the MNLF in particular and the Muslims in general. This is the perception of a public that is steeped in prejudice against Muslim groups that have taken up arms against the central Philippine government dominated by Christians and whose policies have largely excluded the Muslims and the indigenous Mindanao groups or Lumads.

Building the foundations for lasting peace is tedious and complicated. As such, it requires the collective efforts of all sectors in society — from the margins to the mainstream. Spaces for participation in various processes, activities, and programs that lead to sustainable peace must be widened, and voices toward long lasting solutions of intermittent armed conflict must be strengthened.

Waging peace involves a variety of strategies and techniques including those that are otherwise not designed for peace, although the cumulative effects of such strategies create the enabling environment to achieve peace. For civil society groups in Mindanao, these efforts include community organizing with the provision of sustainable livelihoods. The latter strategy is aimed to promote the overall welfare of their partner communities for them to be both economically and politically empowered (Cagoco-Guiam 2003).

For its part, the Philippine national government has passed various laws that promote the general welfare of its people. One of these is the Local Government Code of 1991. The Code provides for opportunities for citizen participation in local governance, as representatives of so-called local special bodies like the Local Development Council and the Local Peace and Order Council. In each municipality, a representative of an NGO or a CSO sits as a member of both these councils. Unfortunately, this provision is honored more in the breach than in observance. The opportunities for citizen participation are usually available only to more prominent or well-established CSOs or NGOs. Alternatively, the opportunities are made available to those who have either blood or marital ties to the Local Chief Executive (LCE, e.g., the mayor or governor) who signs the appointment of the CSO representative. Groups that have not established a legal identity (like a registration from a government accrediting body like the Securities and Exchange Commission) are automatically excluded from participating in the local special bodies because they are not accredited.

Compounding this problem is the fact that in many upland, hard -to-reach towns in the ARMM, the local special bodies are not yet functional. Even the local government units (LGLis) are also absent. In a recent field visit I conducted for a baseline study of IDPs in the ARMM provinces, I found out that some local government officials do not hold office in the towns where they got elected – they reside and hold office in the urban areas in non-ARMM provinces like Cotabato City (for Maguindanao local chief executives), Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro City (for Lanao del Sur officials). This governance deficit has virtually pushed the constituents to look for alternative sources of guidance and governance and, in some cases, these have been provided not only by CSOs but also by rebel groups like the MILF.

In Maguindanao Province, there are harsh realities that deter citizen activism in pushing for much needed reforms in governance, especially in making citizen participation truly operational and genuine. Foremost among these is the leadership of warlords and traditional local politicians who unfortunately, have enjoyed the support of the national government leadership up to the present. This local leadership has caused the creation of new towns without going through the process of genuine people participation at the dialogue level. It seems that the rationale for the creation for new towns was done to perpetuate the ruling family’s power– the newly elected mayors of the three new towns are blood relatives of the governor. In these new towns, there are only a few residents – even an impartial observer will wonder how it was possible to pass the laws to create the new political unit without fulfilling some basic requirements as provided for by Philippine law. The national government has so far just turned a blind eye – this is probably because the ruling political party won by a landslide in the province in the last presidential elections.

Concluding remarks

Despite all these problems and challenges confronting conflict-affected communities in Mindanao, a vibrant civil society in Mindanao provides hope. Various NGOs, both national and international, are filling the democracy deficits (Clark 2000). By implementing a wide range of programs and projects—from relief and rehabilitation work; organizing and capacity building; providing seed money for grassroots organizations and cooperatives; and community fund mobilization for self-reliance; and even trauma healing for those who have suffered war shock during armed conflict. These efforts might seem to be a cacophony of various agenda, strategies, and styles of working – but they arc all designed to promote sustainable peace and development in a region that has a long history of periodic armed conflict.

The problems confronting war-torn and impoverished communities in Central Mindanao are quite immense – everyone’s contribution is needed, whether this contribution is done individually or as organized initiatives.

“There can he no oversupply in CSO-led peace initiatives,” one informant said in one of my field visits. I agree. All these efforts that respect and honor capacities of people to develop themselves need to be replicated to achieve a truly people-centered sustainable peace and development that is anchored on the building blocks of human security. At least if government fails to attain this mandate, its subalterns (albeit unwilling) in the countryside – the NGOs, POs, and CSOs—are always available to help people attain genuine development.

The Maladeg Peace Zone and the Dungos peace Pact

Designed by the people themselves, the Maladeg Peace Zone stands out as the most unique all over the country. It sprang forth in Maladeg, a coastal barangay of Sultan Gumander, Lanao del Sur, a province whose population is more than 93 percent Maranao Muslim.

In Barangay Maladeg itself, the population is 90 percent Maranao and 10 percent Christian, compared to the town of Sultan Gumander which is nearly 98 percent Maranao. Maladeg is made up of 876 houses in all. When the peace zone started, there were only more than ten Christian houses, now there are more than a hundred.

Many of the Maranaos do not come from Maladeg. A good number of them came from the nearby towns of Nunungan, Calanugas, Malabang, Ganassi, Karomatan and Balabagan, They either came as evacuees during Martial Law days or simply sought shelter on account of unstable conditions in their places of origin.

The Muslim residents are clustered on the north side of the coast, the Christian residents on the south side. The leading families, the Antons, stay in the middle. The Muslims and the Christians used to be mixed in the early days but because of differences in culture, which were built-in irritants among them, it was decided to separate them. The Christians allow the sale and drinking of liquor and the raising of hogs, while Islam prohibits them. There has been no trouble since the separation of the two communities.

Elected leader of peace zone is 60-year old Manuel Anton — more popularly known as Bob, half Maranao, who is a Catholic Christian. Youngest in a brood of eight, his father was Miguel, half Spanish, one-fourth Maranao, one-fourth Maguindanao, former Chief of Police and four-term mayor of Malabang, Lanao del Sur. His mother is Mareg Limano of the respected Ibrahim clan of Pualas, Lanao del Sur. Her own father was the former Sultan Dalumangkob of Pualas.

Married to Trinidad Carpio, a charming Zamboanguena, Bob is referred to endearingly by the Maranao residents as the Ama-Ina (Father-Mother) of the zone. One reason he is called Ina-Ama, said Mauyag Ampuan, one of the original authors of the Peace Zone, is that “he protects his family, meaning not only his blood relatives but all the people who believe in him in the peace zone. When his family is in distress, he forgets himself and he will take maximum measure to save the lives of his family.”

All the signatories of the Covenant of Peace and Development —the original of this document is in Maranao — used to be Bob’s mortal enemies, ridu-ai in Maranao, with whom his family was at war for more than two decades. They were sworn to eliminate his family from Maladeg; his family fought them to survive. In the process he lost some members of his family. He himself is a veteran of countless armed encounters with them. Now, they are allies, sworn to protect each other in the peace zone.

When they arrived in Maladeg, said Sangcupan Kilab, one of the authors of the peace zone, there were about ten houses there. They conferred with the Antons. They decided to create a committee whose task was to fix all kinds of rido (family feuds), and also to prevent the escalation of trouble particularly inside the zone. There were so many rido all around them at the time. Now, the committee has more than 30 members and the houses have increased to more than 800.

They also decided to create a Peace Zone which would be bounded by areas inside Turayas to the east, boundary of Liangan-Subuan to the west and then, going up to the north, Kalumpang or Kaludan and then going up to Mamaanan and back of Turayas. The area is about seven kilometers in width and about 15 kilometers in length.

The members of the peace zone represent clans; they also have Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commanders among them, all sworn to uphold the eight rules and regulations of the zone. The Zone did not have a name in the beginning, just a Committee made up of 13 leaders, and the covenant was not written either (it was put on paper later). From the original 13 in 1978, the Zone covenant’s signatories have now increased to 41. Four of the signatories are MNLF commanders, one is a Chief Inspector of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and another is a Colonel of the Philippine Army. The incumbent mayor of Sultan Gumander is so pleased with the peace and order situation in Maladeg he decided to relocate his office there.

A Council of Elders sees to it that these rules are implemented. To ensure proper implementation the rules are disseminated to all the families in the zone. Where a family or clan is unable to implement the rules, the signatories — datus and leaders — of the covenant will take over the implementation. They have a community jail for violators. The first tenant was the son of Bob himself for a minor infraction, proof that he favored no one. The community respected him for that. Many others have been imprisoned there, including soldiers and members of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Units (CAFGUs). There are no exceptions as long as they violate the rules.

Armed conflict, gambling; the use of prohibited drugs, any form of criminality, in fact, anything considered bad, are prohibited inside the Zone of Peace. Good deeds are encouraged.

Outsiders who wish to reside inside the Zone are required to seek the permission of the Council of Elders and commit themselves to a strict compliance of the rules and regulations prior to approval.

Any outsider of the Zone who has rido but does not wish to be part of the rido, can avail of sanctuary inside the Zone, provided he will promise to renounce violence and cut off his support for his relatives involved in the rido. This also means that he may not use the Zone as his base of operations to participate in rido. The Zone leaders, in return, will provide him protection and assistance from any troublemaker.

They also have a committee whose members are constantly alert for any outbreak of actual conflict or potential conflict. If they feel that a conflict is about to break out, they would immediately visit the involved parties and talk them out of it. Where armed conflict has already broken out, they will ‘visit the contending parties and persuade them to a cease-fire. As soon as the parties agree, the next move is to get them to negotiate for a peaceful resolution. In cases of murder or attempted murder, Zone rules require that the weapon used in the crime must be turned over to the Committee before resolution.

The committee has not only confined its services to the people of Maladeg, it has also extended assistance to those in need in nearby Maganding, Malabang, Nunungan and Karomatan.

Women violators, married or unmarried, may not be subjected to interrogation without the presence of male relatives of the first degree.

The Committee’s success record in settling conflicts has been spectacularly high. Also, contrary to the practice of mediation common among Maranaos of requiring a fee of 30 percent of the settlement sum, they as mediators do not charge a single centavo for their services. Neither are they compensated for their work. They have also built a reputation for fairness, regardless of social rank.

Feedback from the People

Some feedback from the signatories will reveal the extent to which the Peace Zone has been successful in creating a new way of life in Lanao del Sur. In the interviews with the Maranao leaders, they were asked to respond especially to two questions: (a) Describe life with rido and life without rido, and (b) Why did he choose to live in Maladeg?

Originally from Nunungan, Mauyag “Mawi” Ampuan has lived 40 years in Maladeg. He is one of the authors of the Peace Zone and is also one of the signatories of the Covenant of Peace and Development. Asked about his opinion on life with or without rido, he said: “A person without rido can go anywhere. A person with rido is like a carabao tethered to a tree. He can only move around as far as the rope will allow”.

To Ustadz Ampaso, originally from Uyaan, leader of more than 50 families from the same place and one of the original signatories of the covenant,life with rido is being a “prisoner inside your own household.” What attracted him to Maladegwas that the place is “peaceful and I decided to stay here because this is where I found peace of, mind.”

Kadi Abbas who hails from Nunungan heads more than 200 families. He has lived in Maladeg for the last 20 years. He commented: “When you have rido, you are never stable, you are like a prisoner. You cannot work, you cannot go out of your house, you cannot extend assistance to anybody because you are afraid to go out. Your enemy might be somewhere else and might take any a chance on you. He can kill you.”

He chose to stay in Maladeg because of the work of Bob and his brothers. He told Bob Anton: “We have identified you as people who are concerned about helping other people especially when they are oppressed, when they are hard up. Your family is always there to extend assistance to these oppressed people, to these people who are financially hard up. And most of all, your place is identified with peaceful coexistence among the inhabitants. We find this place very ideal for future plans. This is the place where we can rest with peace of mind. This is a place where we can feel safe even if we have enemies. We believe you will not leave us unprotected.”

Said Datu Bra who has lived in Maladeg for 40 years, “The bad thing about rido is that our livelihood is really paralyzed. The advantage of having no rido is you are free to move wherever place you like to go, no problem.” As to why he chose to stay in Maladeg, Datu Bra said this is where he discovered that he can make a living in peace.

Alim Abu Jabir, originally known as Khlaid Rajah Muda Ali, is from Nunungan. He studied Arabic in Matampay, Marawi City and went to

Kuwait University on a scholarship. He graduated in 1991. He came home when Iraq attacked Kuwait. As an Islamic teacher, he moves around a lot. Even if he does not concern himself with the rido of his clan, he still takes precautionary measures. He plans his movements. He is aware that rido is prohibited in Islam. One of the things he does in his travels is to tell people the efforts being made by the people of Maladeg.

But how does one sustain the, peace zone? Makaorao Sarif, Sultan sa Liangan and regular emissary during settlement processes, believes that to maintain the integrity of the peace zone, the datus must first of all agree. Every leader must discipline his followers and his subjects. When the datus agree among themselves, it means that they have one motive, which is to find peace for themselves and their followers. Leadership is very important. The participation of leaders and datus is very important to achieve this aim.

The Dungos Peace Pact

In August 1999 a group of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) soldiers arrived in Dungos, Tulunan, North Cotabato to inform the people that they were going to establish an armed detachment there, Dungos being part of the MILF Camp Rajamuda.

The Christian and Muslim residents of the place met with them to inform them that they have this peace pact in Dungos not to allow any armed men inside the area. And this included the military and police as well.

They recalled that this Peace Pact was signed on 20 March 1995 by representatives of the Christian and Muslim inhabitants of the Barangay. Among the signatories were Dungos Barangay Chairman Mario M. Baloniebro, Jr., Mayor Rodolfo Penafiel of Tulunan, and the parish priest, Father Buenaflor. The witnesses included no less than Governor Rosario Diaz of Cotabato, Congressman Gregorio Andolana of Cotabato, Mayor Ibrahim Paglas III of Datu Paglas, Mayor Saidona Pendatun of SK Pendatun, the Provincial Director of the PNP, the Battalion Commander of 40IB, 6ID, and Boy Hasim, Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Brigade Commander of the Upper Kutawatu Revolutionary Command.

Sometime after the signing, a delegation led by Mayor Peñafiel traveled to Camp Abubakar where they informed Hadji Murad, MILF Vice Chairman for Military Affairs about the peace pact. The response of the MILF leader was encouraging. As a result of the August attempt of the MILF to establish a detachment in Dungos, the people again conferred with the MILF leadership. The latter decided to respect the agreement of the people.

The Dungos peace pact was born out of the turbulence of the early 70s and the insecurities resulting from the raging war between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the MNLF. It was also inspired by the successful creation of the Peace Zones of Sitios Miatub and New Alimodian, and Barangays Bituan, Banayal and Tuburan in the same municipality of Tulunan that became one of the Ten (10) Outstanding Awardees for development programs throughout the country. Declared as Special Development Area (SDA), the Peace Zones gained the support of the national government and were extended financial support for the people’s livelihood program.

Among the agreements of Dungos were the settlement of internal conflicts by peaceful means and the disallowance of armed groups, including the military, to enter the area unless requested by the members of the Ad Hoc Committee.

Lessons from the Peace Zones

What the peace zone of Maladeg and the peace pact of Dungos teach us is that the people need not wait for results in the top level negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and MNLF or the GRP and the MILF. They know what kind of peace they want and they can agree among themselves within the community. Self-regulation is an important ingredient here because it illustrates that establishing a peace zone or the creation of a peace pact area and maintaining the same requires vigilance and a constant demonstration of the stakeholders’ political will. There is nothing better than peace that flows and is nurtured from within.

Historical Evolution of the Tulunan Peace Zones

Peace Zones do not just crop up like mushrooms that grow out of spores scattered by the wind. A peace zone grows out of a historical process. It evolves out of a conflict situation. It grows out from the crying hope of a people mired in the midst of man-made calamities. It presents itself as a human right demanded by the historical necessity in an extraordinary predicament of a people in the pursuit of a dignified existence.
Peace is a constant desire of individuals as well as a collective aspiration of a community of humans in any social milieu. It is, like any other attribute of human existence, relative, varying in degree of necessity according to the particularity of the community’s or a people’s history. But its relative necessity becomes absolutely intense in a human settlement caught in the midst of conflicting forces. It is the ultimate cry of a people enmeshed in the crossfire between warring forces that make them veritable victims of the brutal consequences of armed conflict.
The Tulunan Peace Zone is one such historical outgrowth of an armed conflict situation. As such, it has its roots in the particularity of its history within the larger peculiar history of Mindanao where it is situated. To better appreciate, therefore, the evolution of the Tulunan Peace Zone is to know and understand the specific features of Mindanao history.
Mindanao, the second largest island in the Philippine archipelago, is endowed with very rich natural resources (Montiel & Briones 1997). If only because of that, it is an important part of the country’s politico-economic map. It has been called the “Land of Promise” (Turner, May & Turner 1992).
In early times, purely tribal communities inhabited Mindanao. When Islam was introduced into the island, a considerable portion of the tribes became Muslims. This religious-cultural phenomenon resulted in the development of the Sultanate as the socio-political organization that dominated Mindanao. The Spanish conquest and the colonization of the Philippine Islands in the sixteenth century ushered in Christianity and its attendant medieval European culture. As a feudal ideology, it could not subjugate a parallel feudal ideology, which at the time had reached a certain level of social and political consolidation in Muslim Mindinao. The Spaniards pursued the “sword and cross” style of aggressions against the people of Mindanao, causing the implantation of deeply ingrained mutual hatred and prejudices in the collective psyche of Christians and Muslims through the centuries (Montiel & Briones 1997).
Indeed, the diverse religious beliefs, cultural disparities and traditions in the island have created a gaping chasm between two peoples, inflicting deep wounds that would not heal through time. This was complicated by the, massive migrations of Christian settlers from the northern provinces to Mindanao during the early twentieth century. As early as 1900, the Manila government encouraged migration of Christians to the island, thus finding them scattered throughout the “Promised Land.”
Later, multinational corporations made their entry into Mindanao as part of government policy under the guise of development agenda (Montiel & Briones 1997). These initiatives would in time prove detrimental to The local inhabitants, Muslims and Christians alike.
In the 1960s, the worsening political situation of the country, the man-administration of resources, and rampant corruption in the government bureaucracy exacerbated the Muslim-Christian conflict. Warlordism became a militarist prop for corrupt power politics. Private armies emerged. And in Mindanao, the infamous Muslim “Blackshirts” and “Barracudas” were organized as part of local Muslim politicians’ drive for power. These private armies were widely known as “Moro bandits.” In response to this, the late 1960s saw the emergence of cultist groups called Ilaga (literally means rat) and the Tadtad (chop-chop) whose primary purpose was to fight the Muslim bandits. The period that followed witnessed the atrocities and massacres perpetrated alternately by Muslim armed bands and Christian cultists against civilians of both peoples (Montiel & Briones 1997).
The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) was a historical child born out of the escalating internecine violence that gripped the entire island. It was a separatist political movement that aimed to establish an independent Moro nation-state in Mindanao. It embodied the ideals and captured the sentiment of the entire Muslim population, uniting them in a veritable declaration of war against the Philippine government. At the same time, as part of a growing national phenomenon, the New People’s Army (NPA) showed its presence in Mindanao (Montiel & Briones 1997).
These two politico-military forces, albeit adopting diverse political ideals, were both fighting the national government and aimed to seize political power. The NPA had its beginning in Central Luzon and soon spread throughout the whole archipelago, including Mindanao. The MNLF wanted to establish its own “Moro Bangsa” nation state in Mindanao, distinct and separate from the Republic of the Philippines. Objectively, they were in alliance against a common enemy, the Philippine Government. The Ilaga was known to have been used by the government armed forces as a para-military unit in its campaigns against the NPA rebels and the Moro separatists.

Tulunan Municipality

Tulunan is a fifth class municipality located at the southern tip of Cotabato province. It consists of twenty nine (29) barangays. Two of these barangays and two sitios of two other barangays have been declared and given national recognition as PEACE ZONES. Tulunan is basically Ilonggo territory whose populace is composed of migrants from Iloilo province. It became the natural home ground for Ilaga cult members. At the height of the Christian-Muslim conflicts in the late 1960s and well toward the 1970s, the residents of Barangays Banayal, Bituan, Nabundasan and Miatub and other neighboring barangays of Tulunan experienced sporadic disturbances from Moro armed attacks. Often their houses were subjected to strafing and other forms of violent harassments.
Tulunan was not spared from NPA groundwork objectives, making it one of the areas within the ambit of its guerilla activities. This made Tulunan a hotbed area where government military operations against rebel forces were conducted.
Under these deplorable conditions, it was always the civilian population who suffered. They were not only inflicted with physical pain and injuries and deprived of the lives of their loved ones, but they were also subjected to psychological wounds where a “culture of fear” was implanted in their individual and community life. Fear became a constant ingredient of their day-to-day existence.
Outbreaks of violence not only destroyed the peace in Tulunan but also resulted in rampant stealing of livestock, farm implements and agricultural produce. Massive evacuation of the residents from the affected barangays ensued. In the 1960s, when the conflict was between the Ilaga/
Tadtad and the Moro bandits, the La Fortuna barangay school building was used as the evacuation center. Some private houses in Barangay Perez and Barangay Nabundasan were also utilized for refuge. After a while, people started to go back to their respective farms to work. But it was an “off and on” situation at the evacuation center because Muslim armed bands kept on corning back to attack other nearby barangays.
In the 1980s, at the height of government counter-insurgency program, massive evacuation also happened. This time the Banayal Elementary School and high school buildings became the evacuation center. At the evacuation center, there was a marked rise in the incidence of sickness particularly among children due to malnutrition. Schools were temporarily closed, causing many students to drop out. The menfolk were recruited to join the para-military units such as the “Barangay Self-Defense Unit” (BSDU) which was later renamed “Civilian Home Defense Force” (CHDF). This was purportedly to defend their lives against the NPA whose presence in Tulunan was very evident (interview with Felecita Acosta-Barrredo).

Life at the Evacuation Center

The refugees in the Banayal evacuation center knew misery in all its adverse consequence& Here they learned to live daily with fear, unfreedom, hunger, undernourishment, and illnesses, and the emotional and psychological effects of deprivations, indignities and injuries.

All in all, the evacuees numbered as follows: 45 families from Bituan; 78 families from Sitio New Alimodian; 32 families from Lampagan & seven families from Tuburan and seven families from Bacong. They constituted a total of 159 families or 784 individuals, including children.

The people sought help from government and non-government organizations. In response, food was delivered and free clinics were conducted. An expression of active hope and resilience was evident as they began to organize themselves by forming the Barangay Disaster Committee. Other committees were identified and formed, namely: health, finance, education, negotiating panel, accommodation, and research and documentation.

In September 1989, the Barangay Disaster Committee was changed into Inter-Barangay Disaster Coordinating Council, representing 70 families from New Alimodian, 50 families from Bituan and 20 families from Lampagang.

The Birth, of the Tulunan Peace Zones

In the face of the harsh realities, the residents of Tulunan organized their ranks as a liberative process of people empowerment. Their action at the evacuation center caught the attention of concerned authorities, non-government organizations, the media and other concerned sectors and individuals.
Every dialogue and meeting with these concerned agencies and groups was center lighted with that one single desire of the people: to live permanently in a place free from armed conflicts and other violent hostilities. This desire gave birth to the concept of a “peace zone”.

One Church leader mentioned the experience of the people of Hunduan, who managed to get the NPA to withdraw from the locality, and made a determined stand to bar the military from installing a detachment outpost in their place. This was promptly picked up by the evacuees and they started to hold caucuses on the possibility of establishing a “zone of peace” in their area in Tulunan.

The Bituan Peace Zone

With this notion clear in everyone’s mind, the people at the evacuation center decided to establish a place free from militarization and armed conflicts. The place to become the first peace zone was to be Barangay Bituan.

A Brief Background of Bituan

In the 1950s, a group of Ilonggo from Iloilo in Panay came to settle in a place that was occupied by tribal peoples called T’bolis and B’laans. These tribal peoples called the Ilonggo settlers “Batiwan”, which the Christians interpreted as Bituan and so the place was named Bituan. Bituan was declared a barangay of Tulunan in 1958 (Bituan PZ file). As Visayan Christians, the Ilonggo settlers brought along with them the traditional practice of celebrating fiesta every year, highlighted by ball games, horse fights, and even wrestling bouts.
The place was really a promised land for these Ilonggos. They lived peacefully and harmoniously until the 1970s when, with the declaration of martial law in 1972, the peacefulness in the area was disturbed by sporadic armed encounters between Muslims and Christians. These armed engagements resulted in off-and-on evacuations from one place to another.
By 1978, the Bituan residents were back and settled peacefully in their place. But it was only for a brief period of time. The following years saw the NPA frequenting the area. They started giving “teach-ins” to the residents. As a result, government military troops were deployed in Barangays Banayal, Bituan and Tuburan in order to establish detachment outposts.
In the 1980s, which was the height of the government counter-insurgency program, massive military operations were conducted in the area. These caused untold difficulties to the residents who suffered from the mortar shellings, bombings, killings, and tortures, and other brutalities. The victims included Church leaders and Church workers who were “salvaged” together with farmers. Houses of residents suspected to be NPA members were demolished and burned down.
There seemed to be no end to the inhumanities and indignities committed against innocent civilians. Tired of this situation, some young adults were forced to join either the NPA or the paramilitary units called Citizens Armed Forces of a Geographical Unit (CAFGU). Meanwhile the families who lived within the affected areas such as Barangays Bituan, Lampagang, and Sitio New Alimodian evacuated to Barangay Banayal and occupied the school buildings.
But as told above, life at the evacuation center provided the stimulus for the people to search for ways by which they could obtain peace for themselves and their children. The harsh realities at the evacuation center taught them to hope and dream, organize and harness their human resources and capacities, and above all, to decide for themselves their own courses of action vis-à-vis the prevailing situation. And so, in December 1989, the people at the evacuation center signed a resolution declaring their intention and decision to establish a place free from military activities and armed hostilities by and between conflicting/ warring forces. Bituan became the first peace zone in Mindanao (Manila Chronicle, 2 March 1990).
Some of the salient provisions of the Peace Zone Resolution were:

1. The place covered by the peace zone is the whole of Barangay Bituan.
2. No one enters the peace zone without the knowledge and consent of the screening and admission committee of the people who live in the area.
3. The carrying of firearms (by military/CAFGU and NPA) is prohibited in the peace zone.
4. No detachment is to be established in the whole area of the peace zone.
5. No armed group is allowed to enter the peace zone.
6. No firing of arms is allowed within the peace zone.
7. No organization of the CAFGU or the Civilian Volunteer Organization (CVO) is allowed in the said place.
8. There shall be no threats on and harassments of civilians and transportation.
9. There shall be no selling or drinking of alcoholic drinks within the peace zone.
10. Public buildings (chapel, schools) cannot be used without the permission of concerned authorities.
11. An Ad Hoc Committee will be organized to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire.
12. The same Ad Hoc Committee shall convey the violations of the agreement and the recommendation for a more exact and smoother implementation to the Municipal Peace and Order Council (MOPC)/ Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) and Peace Commission.
13. This resolution shall be respected by the two warring forces and witnessed by the Ad Hoc Committee before the appellants.
This resolution. was submitted to the local government and copies furnished the provincial, national government and the Church. Then a series of dialogues was conducted.
Some of the major dialogues were:
On 17 January 1990, a consultative meeting was held which was attended by Fr. Ronilo Villamor, Congressman Gregorio Andolana, the Municipal Councilors of Tulunan and a military officer assigned in the area. The proposal of a peace zone was presented. The military representative agreed to the idea but said that the final decision would come from higher authorities.
On 25 January 1990, the evacuees called for a general assembly to validate their resolution. Congressman Gregorio Andolana, the Sangguniang Bayan members of Tulunan and representatives from various government agencies attended this assembly.
On 5 February 1990, the leaders of the communities, with Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos, Fr. Ronilo Villamor, and Congressman Gregorio Andolana met with Brig. Gen. Orlando Soriano, commanding officer of the 6th Infantry Brigade and other high ranking officials. The agenda included: military recognition of the peace initiative, the suspension of the restriction on the delivery of the relief supplies including food and the release of confiscated goods for the peace zone residents. General Soriano responded positively by assuring them of the immediate pullout of troops in the area on the condition that NPA would also withdraw. Fr. Villamor relayed this through the radio station DXND and the rebels agreed.

The Return

The people were so determined that while the negotiation was still going on, they started to clear the peace zone area, which is Bituan. On the 10th of February 1990, they were all prepared for the return. It started with a mass celebration officiated by Fr. Ronilo Villamor. Immediately after the Liturgy of the Word, the people started to pack up their belongings, got hold of their livestock and started to move out. The military stopped them for a picture-taking According to the military, the photo would serve as survey record for an effective monitoring of the people residing in the peace zone. After the picture-taking, the procession continued. Upon reaching the big mango tree at the entrance of the proposed area, the caravan stopped and the celebration of the mass continued. Just before the final blessing was made, the presider sounded a reminder, “Now that you have declared the Peace Zone, be faithful to its provisions. No to power of the guns and let Yahweh God be your chief security guard, no longer the NPA nor the military!” After the mass, a child was baptized, then everyone sat down to a thanksgiving meal.
A series of dialogue was still conducted even after the return to Bituan. Representatives from the Church, the local government, the military, and non-government organizations attended these dialogues. The military consented to the peace zone concept but allowed only a one-kilometer radius. That meant that beyond the one-kilometer radius, military operations may take place. Because of the strong determination of the people, the local government also adopted and approved the request of the evacuees to recognize Bituan as a zone of peace.
One major dialogue that really ensured the success of the Bituan experiment was the one held with Commissioner Haydee Yorac of the Commission on Elections and Senator Rodolfo Biazon in Miatub. Senator Biazon drafted and sponsored a resolution in the Congress of the Philippines urging the Executive Department to declare Bituan with other areas in Tulunan a zone of peace. Eventually,
on June 23, 1993 Bituan and the other peace zones in Tulunan were declared a special development area by the national government (interview with Maximo Casulocan).

Sitio New Alimodian

New Alimodian is the lone sitio of Barangay Banayal. All of the pioneers of this place came from Alimodian, in Iloilo, thus the name New Alimodian. It became a sitio in 1955, its population being big enough to warrant the status of a sitio.
As a Catholic community, New Alimodianons also held a yearly fiesta celebration as a form of thanksgiving for the abundance they received in the past year. This was particularly displayed in the way they welcomed and treated their fiesta guests. All of the households offered sumptuous food to anybody who came into the house, a practice that gave them favorable reputation among other barangays.
Peace reigned among the sitio populace until the 1970s, when after the declaration of martial law in the country, the people began to live again in constant fear. Their livelihood was greatly disrupted. As a matter of fact, they experienced displacements from their homes and farms every time the Moro armed band attacked.
In later part of the 1970s peace was restored in New Alimodian. People went back to their farms. But they realized the need to forge stronger unity and to work harder for the rehabilitation of their place. This led to the establishment of a farmers’ organization called Hiniusang Mag-uuma sa New Alimodian (United Farmers of the New Alimodian) in 1982. They also formed a sectoral council, called the Babaye Barug Alang sa Kalingkawasan in 1986. These organizations were affiliated with the Kilusang Magbubukid sa Pilipinas (KMP), a militant national movement of farmers and rural workers. Because of this, the people of New Alimodian were suspected as members of the NPA. And so, a series of military operations was conducted in the area. Military detachments were also established in Barangay Banayal and Barangay Tuburan.
The poor civilians were caught in the middle of these armed forces. They suffered salvaging and tortures committed by the military. An unforgettable incident occurred on 19 July 1989. New Alimodian was subjected to intense mortar shellings at four thirty in the afternoon. The perpetrator of the grave abuse of authority was the Alpha Company of the 27th Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army under the command of 2nd Lt. Espiritu, and based in Barangay Tuburan. The New Alimodian residents promptly abandoned their homes and evacuated to Banayal Elementary School. Residents of other barangays such as Bituan and Lampagang joined them.

Birth of the New Alimodian Peace Zone

The New Alimodian peace zone is a child of the Bituan peace zone. Actually, the residents of New Alimodian were part of the Bituan experiment, which created the Bituan peace zone. While at the Bituan peace zone, the residents of New Alimodian were experiencing an economic crisis on account of the scarcity of farmland to till. But they realized that they had their own place and properties.

On 5 February 1992, the Alimodianons called a meeting and decided to leave Bituan and go back to New Alimodian. They drafted a resolution and worked for the declaration of New Alimodian as a zone of peace. They negotiated with local, provincial and national government authorities. The proposal contained the following provisions:
1. The area to be declared as a peace zone is the whole of sitio New Alimodian.
2. No armed group shall dictate to the community in times of war or peace.
3. Members of the NPA and AFP who want to live peacefully are welcome in the peace zone.
4. Government line agencies, NGOs and religious sectors or groups are welcome to help in the total development of the community.
5. Violations of the provisions by the NPA will be reported to the AFP and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Return Part Two

On 15 February 1992, a second movement of people took place from Bituan to New Alimodian. Representatives from the local and national governments, the Church, the non government organizations and the media witnessed it. Just like the first exodus, it started with the celebration of the mass by Fr. Rondo Villamor as the presider. The journey started after the homily. When they reached the area, the mass continued and ended up with the baptism of two children and a thanksgiving meal. Immediately thereafter the residents of New Alimodian Peace Zone organized themselves by coming up with what was called the Sitio New
Alimodian Development Council. They put up a cooperative. They established linkage with the Bituan Peace Zone and other concerned agencies for the speedy declaration of their place as a peace zone. They joined in dialogues with the military and other government agencies until finally, they received national recognition as a peace zone on 23 June 1993 (interview with Francisco Abihon, Jr.).

Barangay Nabundasan

The story of the people of the Barangay Nabundasan is no different from that of the other barangays. It followed a storyline similar to the other peace zones in the neighboring barangays. They lived peacefully and in relative economic abundance from the time the place was established as a barangay up to the 1960s. All of the residents therein were likewise Ilonggos, which means their place of origin is Iloilo.
The secret underlying the peacefulness and abundance of the place was really the farmers’ organizing efforts, which gave rise to what was called the Banayal-Tuburan-Nabundasan Foundation or BATUNA. Essentially, it arose from the collaborative efforts of three barangays with the assistance of the Catholic Church parish of Tulunan. It had for its objectives the spiritual and economic upliftment of the residents. Ironically, this socio-economic development program aroused the suspicion of the military establishment. The local folks were suspected to be organized by the NPA. Undeniably, the presence of the NPA in the area was evident.
And so, military operations started to be launched by government forces in the 1970s, especially after martial law was declared. Many armed confrontations between two opposing forces took place in the barangay, causing disastrous economic dislocations among the residents. Oftentimes they were forced to vacate their homes, leaving their valuable belongings and livestock behind. Whenever the government military moved out of the area, they returned to their houses and took whatever useful things they needed in their places of refuge, including their goats, pigs, chickens and other livestock. There were times when the military burned down their houses, thus rendering them homeless when they emerged from their hiding places.
During military operations, the people experienced grave harassments and intimidations. Some people were tortured; others received threats of summary execution or salvaging. Certain cases left indelible marks in the memory of the people. Alfonso Fajardo, a teen-ager, was mercilessly tortured and killed; Ramon Panibayo and Felomino Nobleza were both tortured and salvaged; and Diosdado Tacalan suffered unbearable tortures that rendered him disabled and therefore unable to work in his farm for two years; and the most gruesome of all was what happened to Custodio Nim, a farmer leader, who was chopped to death.
Another experience that paralyzed the livelihood activities of the people was the so-called “hamletting” whereby all the villagers were herded by the military and made to stay in two chapels as hamlet centers for weeks or months on end, purportedly to monitor their daily activities. In the hamlet centers children got sick. An old man died. As a military strategy to counteract insurgency and ostensibly for the protection of the local people, the village menfolk were recruited to become members of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU). But this was resented by the people because of the risks involved, aside from the fact that their livelihood would be affected with less time for farm work once they joined the para-military unit. In one instance, a group of village men was forcibly brought by the military to their detachment outpost in New Panay for the para-military training. But their wives went with them and refused to leave the outpost until their husbands were sent home together with them.

The Birth of the Nabundasan Peace Zone

Having gone through a series of militarization, the residents of Barangay Nabundasan decided to declare their area as a zone of peace. They drafted a resolution and submitted it to the Peace Commissioners, the Governor, Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos, and Col. Cresencio Villanueva, to mention a few. Some provisions of the resolution were:
1. That we shall not allow arms to be brought within our barangay especially those borne by the military troops; neither shall we allow detachments within the barangay.
2. That we shall not allow the recruitment of civilians into the CAFGU or CVO.
3. That no armed groups shall be allowed to enter our barangay especially the military, the NPA and other armed groups.
4. We are united in declaring our Barangay Nabundasan as a zone of peace. They also established linkages with other peace zone areas and joined the dialogues held in relation to peace zones. Finally, Barangay Nabundasan won national recognition as a peace zone, along with those of Bituan, New Alimodian and Miatub on 23 June 1993 (Interview with Jerry Nim).

Sitio Miatub

Miatub was created as a sitio of Barangay Tuburan only when some of the residents from Barangay Tuburan opted to live in a peace zone. Residents of this sitio came from Miag-ao and Tubungan of Iloilo, thus the name “Miatub” from the first syllables of both places.
Life in Barangay Tuburan was peaceful until the 1970s, when the NPA entered the place and started conducting teach-ins among the local residents. This was coupled with organizing. Some joined the NPA, but many refused to go with them. At any rate, the organization brought in some positive effects, as some of the vices in the community, like drunkenness, were eliminated.
In the 1970s, the barangay was one of the areas that figured in the counter-insurgency program of the government. A detachment outpost.. was put up in Barangay Tuburan, and the special operations team began to conduct counter-insurgency activities in the area. Armed engagements between the military and the NPA caused civilian casualties caught in the crossfire. Some people received harassments and intimidations from the military. What the people resented most was the violation of their dwellings. The military just entered their houses at night to see if there were NPAs around. Again, purportedly for the protection of the people, the military recruited men to join the CAFGU, but again the people resented this.
The Barangay Tuburan villagers likewise experienced evacuation runs even if only within the barangay. If the armed encounter between the military forces and the NPA was in the southern part of the village, they moved to the north and vice versa. Just the same, these movements were physically and emotionally exhausting.

The Birth of the Miatub Peace Zone

Having heard of the Bituan Peace zone, some of the barangay officials of Tuburan visited Bituan for an exposure. They were inspired by what they saw and observed so that they started to work for the establishment of a peace zone in their own barangay.
An assembly among the barangay residents was called to present the idea of a peace zone. A survey soon followed to determine how many to have their village become a peace zone. The result of the survey showed that eighty percent (80%) of the residents were in favor of a peace zone to be put up in the barangay.

Alternate Exodus

Immediately after the barangay council designated an area to be the peace zone, the people prepared a resolution requesting Sitio Miatub to be recognized and declared as a peace zone. In the drafting of the resolution, some individuals from Barangay Nabundasan were involved because many Miatub and Nabundasan residents were blood relatives, coming as they were from the same place in Iloilo. Consequently, the provisions proposed in the Miatub peace zone were a virtual replica of the Nabunadasan peace zone.
It was unfortunate that in the process of negotiation for the declaration of the Miatub peace zone, one of the active members was tortured and summarily executed. However, it did not deter nor discouraged the people. They became even more intent and courageous to pursue the undertaking One day, the people called for a bayanihan. Men were gathered to help transfer the houses from the barangay proper to the designated peace zone site. The womenfolk helped with other tasks, such as cooking and fixing the houses. The bayanihan of carrying the houses lasted for a day. At the day’s end, everybody was already in the designated Miatub Peace Zone.
The people recounted that at night some unidentified men were sometimes observed to be moving in the vicinity of the peace zone. To protect themselves, the people organized a group of six to seven men to do a round-the-clock night watch activity. An alert system was devised. The night watch was to beat apiece of bamboo in case unidentified persons were noticed or an untoward happening occurred. Every house would then respond by beating a similar instrument. This simultaneous sound alarm would rouse the entire community to be vigilant and be ready for whatever may happen.
The Miatub residents soon established linkage with other peace zones. They earnestly joined dialogues called to discuss matters related to the peace zone negotiations. They hosted the big dialogue that was participated in by the four peace zones and graced by the presence of Senator Rodolfo Biazon. Miatub, with the other areas, was declared a zone of peace on 23 June 1993 (Interview with Crispino Fajurano).

Structure of the Peace Zone

Each peace zone has its political structure. It has a Peace Zone Council composed of three representatives from the Church sector, three from the farmers’ group, and three from the barangay government. For a sound working relationship, the four peace zones decided I to form the Inter-Peace Zone Development Council (IPZDC) composed of three representatives from each peace zone. Among themselves, they elect the chairman, vice-chairman, secretary, treasurer and auditor. The IPZDC has the power to decide and transact business in behalf of the peace zones. But after some reflection, the IPZDC was changed into Inter-Peace Zone Coordination Committee to emphasize the idea that the power to decide was with the people’s assembly and not with the council members.

Features of the Peace Zone

Principle
The assembly believes that we, the people, are the foundation of life, peace and progress based on the principle of divine providence and nationalism. We believe in the safeguard of our rights in harnessing our initiatives without reservation and free from the dictates of any armed group in times of war or peace; and we recognize, respect and uphold civilian authority at all times and in any situation.

Program
The assembly follows its own method of implementing and monitoring its programs. Our organization exercises no reservations in helping its member areas, especially when requested by the people.

Goal
The empowerment of the people is based on full participation in the decision-making and implementation of the undertakings for the upliftment of their economic, political and cultural life.

Mission
Solidarity of the people through education and organization in order to strengthen themselves towards sustainable peace and prosperity.

Objective
Seek and attain full security, justice, and development through people empowerment.

Method / Strategy
The assembly follows the democratic process of educating and organizing consultations, dialogues among the people, and forging alliances with groups having the same orientation and objectives as ours.

Vernacular Peace: Research Agenda on Indigenous Peace Strategies

The seriousness of the conflict in some areas of Mindanao demands that we engage in what a well-known peace advocate calls a   “constant shaping and reshaping of understandings, situations, and behaviors” (Boulding 2000). To do this, we need to explore all possible resources for peace, especially the voices that are not often heard, such as that of the Lumad. It is a pity that even in the most recent survey of peace initiatives, the Lumads’ contribution is not recognized (e.g., INFOS 2001). In response to this, we have started a research on the `vernacular peace strategies’ among the Lumads. The research aims at recognizing and documenting indigenous peace practices, with a view to utilizing them for peace education and conflict transformation.

We believe that this objective resonates with the Lumad collective aims as well. The recent Indigenous Peoples Peace Statement confirms this eagerness of the Lumad peoples themselves to “review and revive the sacred agreements of old” for the sake of Mindanao peace and development (Mindanao Indigenous Peoples Peace Forum, 17-19 February 2001, GSP Camp Alano, Davao City).

This bibliographic essay has two parts. The first serves as an initial survey of literature focused on the methods of resolving conflicts employed by the different ethnolinguistic groups in Mindanao. The last portion offers a research agenda based on the gaps in the existing literature and advocacy needs.

While the ongoing conflict has attracted students of culture and society to tackle various aspects of the problem, tracking them down has not been simple. Collecting these materials has made the researchers inspect resource centers from Zamboanga to Butuan, from Marbel to Marawi, from Davao to Cagayan de Oro, and even to Manila. We have had to collect them from different libraries, academic departments, files of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and personal collections. Some of the articles have been published either as separate essays or as chapters of books. The rest of this essay reflects the result of the bibliographic survey.

Vernacular Peace Strategies

One of the early works which deal exhaustively.on indigenous methods of conflict resolution is the classic 1970 book, Tiruray justice: Traditional Tiruray law and morality written by Stuart A. Schlegel. The book, which is often quoted by social scientists and researchers studying the topic, stands out as an excellent source of prevailing tribal concepts of law, morality and justice. Owing mainly perhaps to the length of fieldwork time and extent of interaction devoted by Schlegel among the Tedurays, his work is able to chronicle and document their customs and traditions focusing on dispute settlement proceedings, albeit written from the vantage point of a Westerner. A whole chapter is devoted to the kefeduwan, a moral leader embodying the legal authority, and the tiyawan, described as “a formal adjudicatory process, which is the setting for the formal negotiation of agreements, and for the nonviolent settlement of disputes.” The tiyawan stands as the primary Teduray alternative to bloody feuding.

In the final chapter entitled “Tiyawan as Law,” Schlegel successfully argues the existence of a system of rules in the Tiyawan process that is akin to a legal system. Departing from the traditional understanding of law as a codified array of rules, rights and obligations by which members of a society abide under pain of sanctions and penalties, and operating within a regime of complex judicial structures, he returns to the basic premise on What (indeed) is law? Corollary to this is the question What is indisputably a legal system?  Following the analysis presented by H.L.A. Hart in The concept of law, Schlegel concludes that “the Tiruray tiyawan system is a manifestation of law”

Although devoid of adversarial proceedings that characterize other legal systems and a legislative authority that enacts codified laws, the Tiyawan system is legitimate in that it is operated by officials accepted by the tribe for that function. A council of elders also stands with absolute adjudicatory and punitive powers, which may in another society be a complex judicial structure of trial and appellate courts. It has a source of rules—the general moral code—from which it derives what is right and what is wrong. Schlegel however concludes on a warning note that the “elegant tiyawan system of their traditional world seems destined to disappear.”

Ethnographic studies on the indigenous peoples of Mindanao are scarce and are mostly descriptions of the people’s cultural life. Only a few deal with the indigenous political and legal systems. Schlegel describes the intricacies of the Tiyawan system; Frake (1963)’ analyzes Subanon law as part of the people’s social life; Garvan (1931) investigates the Manobo political system of the early 1900s, including an intricate procedure of conflict settlement (Burton and Canoy 1991).

Seeking to delve deeper into the concept of justice among the indigenous communities, and to understand their system of jurisprudence (law and concept of justice), Erlinda M. Burton, PhD, and Easterluna S. Canoy did a 1991 comparative study of customary laws and resolution of conflicts among the Mamanuas, the Manobos and the Talaandigs of Northeastern Mindanao. Entitled The concept of justice among the indigenous communities of Northeastern Mindanao, the study delves into their political system, customary laws, and the process of conflict and dispute settlements. Its focus however is the definition and perception of justice among indigenous cultures.

The study notes the possible collision between two legal systems: the Western-styled national legal system and the actual practices in Philippine communities that have their own mechanisms for adjudicating and settling disputes. It makes a distinction between industrial societies that have elaborate and formal institutions with clearly delineated roles (legislative, judicial and executive), and non-industrial societies that lack specialized institutions for dealing with conflict. Nonetheless, Burton states that this does not indicate an absence of a system of social control of which law is a part.

Among the recommendations presented by Burton are (1) the need for an expanded study into custom laws and the intricacies of the resolution of conflict and the execution of justice; (2) an investigation into the effects of the Katarungang Pambarangay Law on the political structure and dispute settlement processes and the law’s acceptability among the indigenous communities; and (3) possible integration of the data system in the community into the national legal system.

A more specific study which sought to compare a government-sanctioned system and a traditional/indigenous system of conflict resolution has been made by Antonio San Agustin Segovia. His masteral thesis looks into both the Katarungang Pambarangay and the Bong Fulong as systems of dispute settlement. A Bong Fulong is a respected elderly B’laan who is entrusted and empowered to settle disputes. The research. problems center on the following areas: (1) the kind of disputes brought  to the attention of the Bong Fulong and the Katarungang Pambarangay; and (2) the procedure, speed, costs entailed, monitoring and evaluation of, and difficulties encountered in settling disputes. Among his major findings are that all kind of disputes can be brought before the Bong Fulong and not all can be brought before the Katarungang Pambarangay (because of its limited jurisdiction as mandated by law). In a survey he said he conducted, majority of the B’laan respondents allegedly prefer the Katarungang Pambarangay as a mode of settling disputes.

E. Arsenio Manuel’s book, Manuvu’ social organization (2000a) carries detailed descriptions, insights and analysis on the Manuvu’s family system, kinship system, the community and local organization, social control and the datuship and tribal hegemony. As in other tribal groups perhaps, it is the datu who wields a judicial function by conducting a hearing whenever a dispute arises. There are different kinds of datus performing these functions: the ta:ukum datus who hear the cases, ta:usay datus who settle cases with reparations, and the bahani’ datus who are military leaders. Although there is a brief explanation of the role of datus in settling disputes, the book however has a limited discussion on conflict resolution strategies.

Manuel later released a paper rendering a more particular treatment on the subject of Retaliation in Manuvu’ custom law: Key to Tagalog behavior of pagtatanim (2000b). Retaliation or suli’, he says, is a tool for restoring peace and order in Manuvu’ society. He cites three examples in which the wronged individuals have no other remedy but to take the life of the wrongdoers. In order to avert a counter-retaliation, which often leads to pasulioy (feuding), a panuvuk is given to the other party. Panuvuk means damages in Manuvu’ custom law. Manuel however clarifies that unlike the pagtatanim ng sama ng loob in Tagalog culture, Manuvus do not harbor lingering feelings of wrath or anger but rather take immediate revenge. His paper ends with a comment that modern Philippine law appears to be more punitive than Manuvu custom law.

Another ethnographic material is The culture of the Mamanua (Northeast Mindanao) as compared with that of the other Negritos of Southeast Asia 1975) by Marcelino B. Maceda. Like Manuel’s book on the Manuvus, which was written in 1968, the author notes the absence of works studying the culture of the indigenous people. His book carries detailed accounts of the economic and social life of the Mamanuas as well as their religion and mythology. Only a page is devoted, however, to crime and punishment. As with other tribes, a headman is in charge of the administration and execution of justice. Punishment ranges from ostracism to death depending On the gravity of the offense.

We might also extend this survey to include even the practices of the Islamized tribes. The ongoing peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), for instance, has required consultations on the importance of the customary laws in settling disputes, especially those touching on land ownership and assertion of identities.

Thomas M. Kiefer in his book The Tausug: Violence and law in a Philippine Moslem society (1972), observes that Tausug culture is heavily preoccupied with the problems of violence and its control but is quick to dispel notions that all Tausugs are violent. His statement is derived from insights he gathered while doing fieldwork with the Tausugs for two years (1966-1968). He also notes that the Tausugs, like many ethnic groups in the Philippines, are as obsessed with litigation as they are with the conflict which makes it necessary. By litigation he means to include informal processes such as mediation of disputes. (In Tausug society, there are three kinds of laws: (1) sara kuraan (Koranic Law); (2) sara agama (interpreted religious law); and (3) sara adat (customary law.) The ultimate goal of all forms of law among the Tausug is the achievement of karayawan, a word that means goodness, peace, ritual purity, tranquility, happiness, or pleasure.

The author emphasizes the twin concepts of justice and law: law has to ensure that justice will be done and that there is order in society. The Tausugs, Kiefer stresses, opt for justice rather than order. Inherent in them is the striving for justice that “they are willing to bring down the whole world in chaos in order to achieve it.” This emphasis on justice, he says, is evident in the absence of ritualistic or arbitrary methods of solving disputes. Unlike other peoples in Southeast Asia who adopt methods by consulting a horoscope or divining from the liver of a chicken, the Tausugs resolve conflict by reference to the specifics of a system of religious justice, or by mutual agreement among independent persons fully in control of their own interests.

The concept of compromise is absent among the Tausugs because the litigants exhaust the discussions until they are sulut, that is, fully satisfied with the terms of the settlement. Conflicts should also be brought out in the open which are resolved through the intervention of a go-between. Usually, there is a headman, the datu, who represents the law in the sense that he has knowledge of the code. There are three basic kinds of adjudication procedure among the Tausugs: judgment (paghukum) by a competent authority, arbitration (paghukum muslihat), and mediation (pagsalasay) by a go-between.

Kiefer’s case study of the Tausugs reveals that they regard their society as a whole inasmuch as the society reflects the idea of a unitary law (sara) mirrored in the sultanate and its institutions, a unitary religion (agama), and a unique style of life and set of customs (adat).  The study also analyzes the religion—a mixture of Islam and folk beliefs which are vestiges of premodern times. The book ends with a chapter discussing the present relationships between the Tausugs and the Philippine government. He laments that the government has ignored the crux of the issue: the competition between two legal systems, the collision between traditional common law and Philippine government law. Despite the decline of the sultanate and the many changes wrought about by modernization, he asserts that the traditional Tausug legal system is still a reasonably effective instrument of justice.

The findings that emerge from the Kiefer study are further elaborated in a masteral thesis, Conflict resolution strategies among the Tausug of Jolo, presented by Domingo Aranal. The thesis focuses on five major problems, namely: (1) What is the Tausug’s concept of law? (2) How do the Tausug of Jolo resolve their conflicts? (3) Do these strategies involve traditional practices? (4) What conflicts are addressed by the traditional process of conflict resolution? (5) What are the steps taken to preserve such traditional practices for successful resolution of conflict? Except for the last, Aranal’s research questions echo those of Kiefer. An innovation is his attempt to establish a link between the peace and development paradigm and the traditional way of conflict resolutions. This means that the indigenous conflict resolutions adhere to the peace and development paradigm. Present here are the elements of (1) participation in terms of decision-making, (2) empowerment in terms of recognition and acknowledgement of the accumulated knowledge of the Tausugs and (3) appropriateness of customary adat laws in their cultural system and also in their legal system.

Nelissa  Soliva-Jorolan’s dissertation, TThe Maguindanaons of Saranay, Pikit: Their struggle in resolving conflicts (2000), tackles a customary practice known as rido (feud). Rido usually occurs between families and often always leads to killings. Soliva-Jorolan traces the various methods of resolving the conflicts that erupted in Saranay, Pikit. The families first try to resolve it among themselves with the intervention of the Council of Elders, after which a kanduli is held, restoring goodwill between the two feuding families. An important feature that the study introduces is the apparent involvement of NG0s—the community Peace_ Advocates of Cotabato in this case,— in bringing about peaceful reconciliation.

In recent years, advocacy for the recognition and respect of indigenous ways of conflict resolution has been gaining ground in Mindanao; spawning a surge of cross-cultural dialogues among the Lumads, the Moros, and the Christian settlers. Literature on this subject includes papers, articles and proceedings. One such proceeding, which contains a wealth of materials on conflict resolution strategies, is the Peaceweavers: .A proceedings manual on the indigenous way of conflict resolution and grassroots peacebuilding (Miclat and Prieto 2001), produced by the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID). Peaceweavers is the product of several consultations and workshops conducted between January and April 2001. For the first time perhaps in the history of Mindanao, Lumads, Moros, and Christian settlers gathered and reflected on their experiences, collated and drew a blueprint of conflict resolution methods as well as a peace-building plan and resolution. What emerges here is a collage of peace-building and conflict resolution strategies already being practiced, including traditional and non-traditional ways and or a combination of both.

Agenda for Future Research

A careful review of the existing literature cited above would reveal a paucity of materials devoted to the subject of indigenous means of conflict resolution in Mindanao. This despite the recognition of the existence and effectiveness of indigenous legal systems that are still being widely practiced today in tribal communities. It is interesting to note though that, of late, at least two masteral theses and a dissertation utilized it as a subject, namely, Aranal’s Conflict resolution strategies among Tausug (1999); Segovia’s The system of settling disputes in the KatarungangPambarangay law and Bong Fulong among the Blaan of South Cotabato (1993); and Soliva-Jorolan’s The Maguindanaons of Saranay, Pikit: Their struggle in resolving conflicts (2000).

Of those accounted for, three scholarly works stand out, namely, Schlegel’s on the Tedurays, Kiefer’s on the Tausugs and, to some extent, Manuel’s on the Manuvus. They focus on indigenous legal systems that conflict with the existing Western-patterned state legal system. Burton and Canoy’s Comparative study on the concept of justice among indigenous communities is a trailblazer in this field, having been conducted in the early 1990s. While there is indeed a dearth of literature on the subject, there are however a number of ethnographic sketches of tribal communities, such as Manuel’s
Manuvu and Maceda’s Mamanua. But they do not dwell much on the topic of conflict resolution.

As recommended above, there is still a need to look into the impact of the collision of two parallel legal systems: the government-sanctioned legal system, on the one hand, and the existing indigenous legal systems still being practiced among tribal communities, on the other hand. A study may also be made into the effects of the imposition of a Western-patterned system that may well be a contributing or aggravating factor leading to the erosion of a tribal heritage.

Another interesting point emerging in this literature survey is the apparent similarity, almost uniform, pattern of conflict resolution strategies in both Muslim and non-Muslim tribes. Standing in the middle of a conflict is a headman, a datu, performing judicial functions aided with an assembly or a council of elders.

From all this, we can identify some gaps that can serve as pointers for future research, through continued archival work as well as long-term fieldwork.

1. Peace Management and Peace Process. Peace research should go beyond conflict resolution. What do Lumad tribes do to prevent conflict, and how do they manage achieved peace? Going deep into this should lead us to more philosophical concepts, some of which have already come out in some forums. We need to elaborate, for example, on the much-talked about but hardly written palabian woy gantangan of the Manobos as mentioned in Helvetas-Oxfam peace manual, Maluntaron ug malabutayon nga pagdumala sa katilingban: Manwal sa pagbansay Panagtagbo-IPO CB. The most challenging item in this area is the current struggle of the Lumads in finding a meaningful participation in the ongoing GRP-MILF peace talks. If the GRP-National Democratic Front talks also push through next year, then this poses an additional challenge for the Lumad advocates of peace. Phase II will probably have to monitor the sequence of events and the results of the Lumad peace initiatives.

2. Peace and Conflict Rituals. In several statements coming from Lumad assemblies, particular rituals are mentioned as having potential in reaching out to groups in conflict. Alejo’s Generating energies in Mount Apo (2000) study of dyandi, pamaas, kalundili, pakaa’t kallo, and kalivungan, challenges future research to be more sensitive to the political uses and multiple interpretations of so-called traditional rituals. We have to go on field documentation of these rituals—especially the tampuda around Agusan, Bukidnon and North and South Cotabato areas—and determine in what way, under what circumstances and to what extent these cultural resources could be made viable in both policy and education purposes. These rituals can shed more light on Lumad and Moro relations.

3. Biographies. Francisco F. Claver’s ethnographic biography of Dinawat Ogil: High Datu of Namnam (1973) remains a lonely but extremely important voice in highlighting the lives of flesh-and-blood individuals who embodied and practiced their tribes’ law and lore in paghusay. But people are less moved by principles than by examples. While most peace education manuals rely on conceptual formulas and technologies, we probably need more life stories. We therefore need more biographies of individuals who embody the struggle for peace in their own way. Can we name Manobo or Teduray peace heroines?

4. Folktales. If we are intent on promoting peace in education, we would need local folktales, both traditional and improvised, that we can reproduce as children’s stories. Research on this cultural resource among the Lumads could enrich our vocabularies for peaceable conversation and imagination. We suggest that this should form one important contribution to the current discussion on how to integrate Lumad perspectives in mainstream education, such as manifested in Meeting the challenges of Lumad education: Summit on Lumad education (1999) and the Comprehensive Mindanao education plan (1997-2014).

5. Role of Women and Children. We can presume that not much of the existing literature touch on the role of women and of children in peace matters. Our research should be alert to this possible line of exploration. It is a pity that in Woman for peace: A study on the impact of the armed conflict among the women in Mindanao (Burton et al. 1992), the indigenous women did not get any particular mention. Future research should match the oral admission in meetings and conferences that women indeed play a significant role in peace efforts.

6. Spirituality. In all serious peace discussions, spirituality continues to be a source of creativity and renewal. Lumad spirituality would most probably turn out to be a main aspect in the ensuing research,
especially if we relate it to ecology. Datu Migketay and Rev. Mars Daul have always called for a more serious appreciation of the place of spirituality in peacemaking (Cf. Miclat and Prieto 2001, 20-21). Studies that touch on indigenous spirituality, such as Schlegel’s recent book Wisdom from the rainforest. Spiritual journey of an anthropologist (1998) and Harry Arlo Nimmo’s Magosha: An ethnography of the Tawi-Tawi Sama Dilaut (2001) and The songs of Salanda (1994), should be encouraged but should be shown to have impact on peace matters. The indigenous peoples in the eastern region of Mindanao deserve better treatment in this type of research.

7. Violence. We will miss out many things if our research does not face the question of how Lumads understand violence. Studies on prejudices and biases, such as Rosalita Tolibas-Nunez’s Roots of conflict: Muslims, Christians and the Mindanao struggle (1997) miserably neglect the perspectives of the Lumads. This “habit” clearly emerges even in documentary films like Bookmark’s Mindanao: Healing the past, building the future (1999). Studies on cross-cultural meanings of violence can shed light on Lumad interpretation of events, like development aggression and media exposure. This entails a careful analysis of how traditional conflict resolution works, and to what extent these traditional strategies can cope with modern conflict situations. This section definitely has to be grounded on the actual extent of the Lumads’ readiness for war.

8. Legal Angles. One thing that emerges from Phase I of this study is the need to take a closer look at the legal implications of documenting and applying customary laws on peace and conflict. To what extent are they compatible? Since most of the sources of conflict in Mindanao have something to do with land, how could the recognition of indigenous ways of peace management and conflict resolution fare with the punitive and legalistic system of the State? Extremely very little is being done in this field. Perhaps the only exception to this neglect is the effort of Augusto B. Gatmaytan, for example in his “Change and the civided community: Issues and problems in the cocumentation of customary laws,” Philippine Natural Resources Law Journal (2000).

9. Changing Contexts. This should not form a separate research topic but should inform all the rest. Peaceweavers of IID’s Miclat and Prieto  (2001) reveals the complexity of the social and political situation in which some traditional peace strategies may not work without being transformed and adapted. Karl Gaspar provides a more thorough description and analysis of the contested political and economic arena in which the contemporary Lumad movements have to learn to negotiate and occupy. This he shows in his book The Lumad in the face of globalization (2000b) and in his yet unpublished doctoral dissertation, “Contestations, negotiations and common actions: A study of civil society engagement in the Arakan Manobos’ struggle for self-determination (2000a).”

Despite the rhetoric of “tri-people” in Mindanao, the political and cultural affairs in the island remains simply “twin-people”. The Lumad voices drown in the dominant exchange between Muslim and Christian groups. Researchers can participate in the process of balancing the power ratio in Mindanao by highlighting the possible contribution of the Lumads. We suggest that future research along this line will have to be designed according to these identified gaps in the existing literature and the expressed needs of peace education and intervention. The Lumads’ insights on the historical roots of conflict and the cultural springs of peace might yet yield for us a substantial harvest of meaningful development.